Chapter 285 - 283: Spoiled?

Chapter 285: Chapter 283: Spoiled?

Li Xiu watched his darling Bao’er display a rare public show of affection, and his heart bloomed with joy. He said softly, "Bao’er, I heard you don’t have classes today. Can we go home now?"

"Hang on, I need you to do me a favor. These teachers might need some help," Zhou Lian said with a playful wink and a smile. She had met Mr. Xie’s wife before—a classic example of a good and virtuous homemaker. But Mr. Xie was far too much of a male chauvinist; he needed her man to knock some sense into him.

Pulling Li Xiu into the chair beside her, Zhou Lian looked up at a somewhat bewildered Mr. Xie and said, "Mr. Xie, what I have to say might come with some bias. Why don’t you talk to my husband instead? You’re both men, so you should have some common ground on this topic."

"Is that okay?" Mr. Xie asked, wringing his hands. He wasn’t quite the staunch chauvinist Zhou Lian thought he was. It was more that... how to put it... he was simply used to it. He was used to things being this way all around him. But as a teacher in the Chinese department, he had an artistic streak and secretly yearned for a relationship of mutual respect with his wife.

Li Xiu glanced at his wife, completely bewildered. ’What is going on here?’ But his composure was unshakable. After listening to his wife and Mr. Xie, he asked, "Hello, Mr. Xie. Why don’t you tell me what the situation is?"

"It’s just that when I get home, my wife and I argue every single day over trivial things. There’s never a moment of peace in the house. I just want to know how to make it stop," Mr. Xie said, sounding dejected.

After a glance at Zhou Lian, Li Xiu said gently, "It’s quite simple, really. You need to be more considerate of her, try to see things from her perspective. When you get home from work, share more of the household chores so she can rest. Let her go for a beauty treatment, or give her time to read a book, things like that!"

"Uh, but I’m not very good at housework!"

Li Xiu glanced at Mr. Xie and said nonchalantly, "If you don’t know how, then learn. No one’s born knowing how to do it. Think of it this way: washing clothes and doing dishes is harsh on the hands. If you do it, your wife doesn’t have to. A woman’s hands are so important. Besides, it’s not good for a woman’s health to have her hands in water all the time. If you can’t cook, then help by washing and chopping the vegetables!"

"I see!" Mr. Xie pondered this. It was true, what he said. ’Why hadn’t I ever thought of that before?’ But then he looked at Li Xiu and asked sheepishly, "What about our parents and relatives on both sides?"

Seeing Zhou Lian raise an eyebrow at him, Li Xiu chuckled and said, "You treat both sides equally. Handle your own parents yourself; don’t make your wife get involved. Before she married you, she never ate a single grain of your family’s rice, so on what grounds should she have to put up with being wronged by them? You’re the one who should handle it. You’re their biological son. Whether you do it right or wrong, no one can really say anything to you. What kind of man lets his wife stand on the front lines and take all the blame!"

Glancing at Zhou Lian again, Li Xiu addressed all three teachers. "Honestly, everyone understands these principles. The hard part is putting them into practice. But think back to when you first got married. Don’t fight. Talk things out calmly. It’s all just about the little things in family life. Figure out what’s most important in your heart and don’t get your priorities backward. Isn’t that better? People aren’t made of stone. It’s not like you didn’t have feelings for each other when you got married. Just talk calmly and try to see things from the other person’s perspective. There’s no deep-seated hatred between a husband and wife, so why does it have to come to daily arguments?"

Seeing Zhou Lian give him a thumbs-up, Li Xiu’s face instantly bloomed into a radiant smile. His normally cool, sharp features softened into a warm, handsome expression. Not just Zhou Lian, but even Teacher Fan and Ms. Zhang found it a little overwhelming, both silently crying out in their hearts, ’What a devilishly handsome man!’

Letting out a deep sigh, Mr. Xie looked at the palpable tenderness flowing between Li Xiu and Zhou Lian and gave a self-deprecating laugh. ’I’m the one who hasn’t done enough.’ If he were like Li Xiu, perhaps his wife would be like Zhou Lian—looking like she was twenty at thirty, so pure and lovely. Li Xiu was right. His wife had never eaten a single grain of his family’s rice, so why should she have to suffer after marrying into his family!

Teacher Fan looked at them and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhou, you and your husband should head home now!"

She looked up at her, saw Teacher Fan’s smile, then saw that Ms. Zhang was also smiling. Zhou Lian smiled back and said softly, "Alright, we’ll be leaving then!"

Li Xiu stood, nodded to the three of them, and then took Zhou Lian’s hand, slowly walking out.

Watching from the window as the couple walked far into the distance, Ms. Zhang and Teacher Fan exchanged a look, shaking their heads with wry smiles. Not all men in the world were as understanding and reasonable as Li Xiu. They both turned to look at Mr. Xie.

Thanks to the rapport they had built over time, Mr. Xie understood what their look meant. He could only smile bitterly and say, "I can’t be like him, but I can try to change, bit by bit. He’s right. My wife never ate a grain of your family’s rice, and she even walked through the gates of hell to bear our children. Why should she have to suffer in my home? She was the apple of her parents’ eye, too!"

Seeing the dispirited looks on Ms. Zhang and Teacher Fan, Mr. Xie sighed. "You should both go home and have a good talk with your husbands. Look at Zhou Lian—she’s living the kind of life all you women envy. I feel so bad for my own wife. Why did she have to marry a piece of work like me?"

After fastening Zhou Lian’s seatbelt, Li Xiu buckled his own and asked casually, "Bao’er, what was all that about in your office just now? Weren’t those three your former teachers?"

"It’s nothing. Just the old saying, ’Every family has its own troubles.’ They saw how happy we are and asked me about it. They’re good people, not gossips, so I just told them the truth. Who knew they’d have such a strong reaction? They started treating me like a relationship expert. But, Jin Chen, aren’t melodramatic soap opera plots supposed to stay in TV shows? How is it that all three of them seem to have such unhappy marriages?" Zhou Lian asked, looking at Li Xiu in confusion.

Li Xiu looked at her and asked gently, "Then what do you think marriage is like, Bao’er?"

"Either you treat each other with distant respect, or you become bitter enemies, like we were in our past life. But bickering every day over such trivial things... is there any point to that?" Zhou Lian asked, puzzled.

Giving Zhou Lian a small smile, Li Xiu explained patiently, "Bao’er, people aren’t that simple. It takes all sorts to make a world, and everyone thinks differently. You don’t need to worry about it, Bao’er. We just need to focus on living our own lives well!"

"That’s true. Still, I was furious listening to Mr. Xie earlier. He doesn’t lift a finger at home, just comes back and acts like he’s the king of the castle. On top of that, he’s biased toward his own parents and siblings but complains that his wife nags and isn’t proper. Who does that? Listening to him made me want to slap him right across the face!" Zhou Lian said indignantly.

Seeing Zhou Lian’s indignant expression, Li Xiu smiled dotingly. "Bao’er, let’s not concern ourselves with him. It’s not worth getting angry over someone like that!"

"Mm. Jin Chen," she began, "do you think you’ve spoiled me? My temper never used to be like this. Now I feel like I can’t stand being wronged in the slightest!" After a moment of thought, Zhou Lian looked at Li Xiu, who was focused on driving yet still kept a sliver of his attention on her, and spoke with a hint of embarrassment.